You see, both the movie Airplane and Epic Movie use basically the same technique -- sending up many other films in an exaggerated, overblown fashion. But I've never understood why Airplane managed to be so hilarious and this movie just fails to get the same laughs out of the audience. Does anybody have an answer, please, because I can't put my finger on it.
shareFor me it's simple. Airplane is one of THE standards by which all spoofs should be compared. And when we see such utter disasters as Epic Movie we can only look back on the classics that began the modern spoof genre. Within which we should also include such classics as Naked Gun and Hot Shots. It also, to me at least, comes down to genuinely funny performances from genuinely clever actors as well. Epic movie didn't have the late, great, Leslie Nielson, or the straight-edged comedic style of Charlie Sheen. Instead, Epic Movie just tries to force feed us toilet humour from second rate actors (though I was disappointed Kal Pen agreed to do this 'movie'). They insist we laugh, without managing to develop an intelligent script, or, indeed, direct what they've written into something viable on any level other than cheap laughs (well, not from me). Airplane is timeless, Epic move is 89 minutes, and that's it, it's life is over. Irony is, I know, given the money, me and a friend of mine could produce a far better script, and direct a far better spoof than that of Epic Movie. Which goes to show, it's not what you know, it's who you know...
shareAnother reason is Airplane, Naked Gun, Top Secret, spoof a whole genre, with a couple of references thrown in; whereas these Movie Movies, in spite of the misleading titles, do nothing but direct references to movie scenes.
A good recent comedy is Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, a take on biopics, which, although it has a couple of direct references to Walk the Line and Ray, spoofs the genre and its clichés as a whole.
- A point in every direction is the same as no point at all.
put your finger on it! that's kinky! i agree, i find airplane a piece of crap, this is much better, or maybe i don't know the movies that airplane is supposed to parody but i'm familiar with this.
sharehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGUNZRFluCM
This help at all?
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Because Airplane makes sense! Duh!!
shareYou forget the main reason. Airplane was the first of its kind. That's why " Scary Movie", and all the rest aren't as funny as " Airplane".
shareThe film itself has
- Low production values (basically looks and feels cheap like VOD);
- Poor acting (making stupid faces is not acting - even deadpan requires appropriate skills or direction);
- Non-existend directing (seriously, Chuck Testa commercials are better directed - this is just letting the camera roll away while 'actors' flail their hands);
All of this creates a feeling of an advanced home video. Like, your small brother truly believes he knows how to make movies just because he saw many of them. He even knows how to operate a camera. But the skills are just not there for a 'real' movie.
Airplane looks and feels like a real decent movie with real actors and directing.
Now to the comedic stuff
- Writing. Seriously, listing scenes from different movies and them adding farts, balls kicks and vomit, is not writing. There is almost no scene or mood setting, no structure, no proper transition or payback. The thin 'story' that holds all these random scenese together is superficial (which bears the question - if the creators don't care about the story, why should the audience?)
- Characters. There are no characters, just references to carbon copies of characters from other movies, with no motivations or even meaning. None of them matter. Like with directing, this is akin to fanfic writing - characters are dull, because they are underwritten due to lack of writing skills.
- Humor. Humour is subjective, so in an alternative reality, these movies might be considered funny in a surreal post-modern sense. Unfortunately, due to all other reasons, there is absolutely no chance the creators are this smart. It really looks like they think this is funny in a straight, what you see is what you get, comical way. I guess, this might work if you don't have access to any other comedies (old or new), tv shows or even YouTube. Otherwise you get a point of reference, and it becomes hard to call this actaul humor at all.
Needless to say, Airplane has actual writing (can't say it's top-notch, but it's good for the genre), funny original characters, and humor that works because it has roots in classical comedy (physical or literature-based).
All in all, Epic Movie is like a random 10 second YouTube video of a farting goat. Yep, it'll get a chuckle from you. But if you stretch it to 90 minutes, release it in theaters and charge money for it, it will not become a real movie, let alone a comedy.
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This is your life. It is ending one minute at a time.
these movies might be considered funny in a surreal post-modern sense. Unfortunately, due to all other reasons, there is absolutely no chance the creators are this smart. It really looks like they think this is funny in a straight, what you see is what you get, comical way.
"Bravissimo!" I cried as tears ran down my cheek. After the Matt Damon song ended, everyone still in the theatre was giving a standing ovation, but eventually an usher said I had to leave.
I have listened to all of Beethoven's Symphonies, I have seen the Sistine Chapel, and I have been to the Alamo, but I never truly lived until I saw Disaster Movie.
This film isn't for everyone. These films movies are avant-garde attempts to introduce the art style of Dadaism into cinema. Film Dadaism, as well as Dadaism, is defined as "anti-art, anti-bourgeois and anarchist in nature, often with strong anti-war themes." However, if you're a type of person that likes Salvador Dali's art or can respect Picasso's cubism painting techniques, this film may become your favorite movie. You have to remember that the rejection of art is in fact art. This film is such a refutation of traditional cinema conventions that it doesn't even have a proper title! The film begins with the most complicated and unconventional love triangle I've ever seen. Will (played by the talented method actor Matt Lanter) wakes up in a bed with his beautiful girlfriend Amy (portrayed by the lovely Vanessa Lachey), flava flav, and a midget. What follows is an awkward break-up, and a series of disasters that keep him and his girlfriend apart. She gets trapped under a golden Egyptian statue (symbolic of world economies crumbling and keeping the middle class oppressed). Along the way, Dadaistic notions are explored. As he overcomes each disaster, he learns a little more about human ethos (ethics) while using his logos (logic) to near his pathos (love).
I could literally spend hours analyzing the minutiae Seltzer and Friedberg have put into every single scene. For instance, in one scene, Will is banding with 3 people, on the brink of death via tornado, and they all start cheering for a hero to show up. As soon as Iron Man shows up to rescue them, he gets squashed by a falling cow, which turns him into a metal can. This is like Mother Earth is saying "Enough with the industrial military complex that gave birth to war machines like Iron Man! Bring about peace and start recycling!" A strong element of Dadaism is antiwar, and this is a blatantly anti-war joke, so it comes as no surprise that the war-mongering, rich Republican film critics hate these films so much.
At this point, I began to look around the theater and realized that most of the people in the theater were young lads in the 11-14 age range. No wonder the bourgeoisie critics hate these films so much! They are popular with the youth and promote a worldview they don't share, namely anti-war. These are tomorrow's leaders. These are the people that are going to solve poverty, cure AIDS, and bring about world piece.
Because Airplane! was actually a well structured movie and even a decent characters development. In addition, it has many subtle references to many cultural elements of different kinds.
Epic Movie was just a mix of spin-offs of successful movies without them having a connection. The plot is practically none-existent and the acting is just painful for the eyes.
One still has something to talk about after over 30 years ; the other was basically forgotten after less than 5 years.